For protection against imitation, in particular with color copying machines or other reproducing methods, data carriers, such as for example bank notes, papers of value, credit or ID cards, passports, deeds and the like, labels, packaging or other elements for the product protection, are equipped with optically variable security elements. The protection from forgery here is based on the fact that the visually simply and distinctly recognizable optically variable effect cannot be reproduced or only insufficiently reproduced by the above-mentioned reproducing devices.
For example, from CA 10 19 012 a bank note is known, which in a partial area of its surface is provided with a parallel printed line pattern. For producing the optically variable effect additionally a line structure is embossed into the data carrier in the area of this printed line pattern, so that flanks are formed, which each are visible only when viewed from certain viewing angles. By selectively arranging the line pattern on flanks of the same orientation, upon oblique viewing of the flanks provided with the lines these lines are visible, upon oblique viewing of the back of the flanks the line pattern is not recognizable. When in partial areas of the embossed area of the line screen or the embossed screen phase shifts are provided, then information is representable, which is only recognizable either when viewed from the first oblique viewing angle or when viewed from the second viewing angle.
With such an optically variable security element the tilt effect is very sharply defined, but occurs only in a very narrow viewing angle range. For the visual check of the known optically variable elements, therefore, exactly this viewing angle range must be found, so that these optically variable elements are less suitable for a simple visual check.
Therefore, it is the problem of the present invention to improve an optically variable security element with respect to its forgery-proofness and with respect to its visual checkability.